“Let the beautiful laws prevail. Let us not weary ourselves by resisting them”- Henry David Thoreau. IBS has always encouraged its students not to restrict themselves but open up to new experiences to learn and grow. Aside from Case Based Learning, Guest lectures, Seminars, and extra-curricular activities, the Summer Internship Program (SIP) forms a critical component of education at IBS.

IBS attempts to bridge the gap in the student’s perception between theory in books and practice in the corporate world. The college offers 14 weeks of internship that all students go through, which takes place; after the end of the 2nd semester. The 14th week of training is unique in itself as most other B-School provide internships of around eight weeks only. So, by extending more weeks of corporate training, the college is helping its students towards better insight into their corporate life, which can assist them in the future. 

IBS offers multiple options in the Summer Internship Process like the students can do their training on their campus, can do their SIP at other campuses of IBS, or can avail themselves for other cities too where there are no IBS campuses, students can also opt for international for their internship and all in this IBS supports their students in every situation so that the students can enjoy the full experiences with giving their best during the long 14 weeks internship.

So, the process of Summer Internship generally starts with companies coming in around October- November, so the same students need to apply for the respective company with their resume along with the personal and company name if they have interest in that particular profile. Subsequently, your resume will get shortlisted (mandatory), and following this company will call for the next round. Each company has its selection process some; will prefer Group Discussion and preceding Personal Interviews; some prefer taking a direct Interview. But most companies prefer the traditional routes of having Group discussions & Personal Interviews. So, if the student clears all the; then only he would be selected for that particular company, and; they must have to choose that company only, the students will not be allowed to sit for other companies. The first company where the student is selected then; they have to take that company only; you cannot change or step back from that company. 

Before SIP starts, students get a college guide who will supervise them through college norms with the aid of the company executives. The Faculty Guide would be involved at all stages of the SIP, beginning from ‘definition of the work content’ to SIP completion, so to get better insights with the faculty; the students need to tell systematic everything to the faculty guide. Apart from a college mentor, students will also get a company guide who will monitor them and check; their performance and will give feedback to the faculty guide in a well-planned manner.

Generally, once a week, the faculty Guide will have a webinar with all the students who are; under the guidance, and apart from the group webinar, one-one interaction also takes place with each student. In these Webinars, students can also interact with other Faculty Members of the Campus as Senior Faculty members to come; and participate in these Webinars along with the Faculty Guide assigned to the student.

As mentioned above, there will be an evaluation from the Faculty Guide & Company Guide for better optimization. IBS usually follows four stages of evaluation criteria during the Summer Internship Process. These are; Stage 1- SIP Proposals; which include the things which the students will do during their training and this holds 10 marks, Stage 2- SIP Interim Evaluation which carries 20 marks, it is an updated version of SIP Proposals but in detail about objectives and action plans, Stage 3- SIP Specific Evaluation; it has a grasp of 30 marks in this precise evaluation of student’s learning outcomes and experiences take place and the last Stage 4- SIP Final Evaluation; in this, the students have to prepare a report in which they have to mention all the things that that they have done in those 14 weeks, after that they have to give a presentation through which they evaluate and its hold 40 marks out of 100 marks and this evaluation done through SIP Committee. 

IBS offers IBSAF awards for the best Intern who generally gets 10 out of 10 grades in their SIP evaluation and which; are decided by their Faculty Guide or the Panel who are taking their presentation. The prize carries a cash prize of Rs. 10,000/- per report and a certificate for the student.

So, to get more comprehension of this 14 weeks internship norms, evaluation, and much more students receive the Summer Internship handbook that includes all the points which students have to keep in mind from the start date when they are applying for the company up to the end day when they have to give the final presentation to the panel. 

Following this, I asked one of the Senior who undergoes this Summer Internship Process this year about the salient points one should take care of during the internship, she started saying that one major thing that from the initial day only you have to be serious in doing your work and you have to update your Faculty Guide and Company guide continuously, as the students will be evaluated daily during their training, so after assessing each and everything; you will get scores from 18 credits, which is generally equivalent to one semester.

The students during SIP serve as an ambassador of IBS. The Institute would always expect students to maintain professional and social imprints of high standards in the organization. She stated that we should come out of our comfort zone during those times, as these 14 weeks will be the last corporate exposure we will get. So, we should make the best out of it by doing other certification courses so that; we can be better furnished; in terms of knowledge and skills. 

The biggest challenge she spoke about can be the biggest challenge for everyone as going into the corporate world and getting exposure to corporate life, the students need to open themselves; as sitting idle in the office, not opening with other employees will not help, and these 14 weeks will not only help you in coming out of your comfort zone but; it will also aid you in communication, interpersonal skills, and networking skills.

“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Do not settle. As with all matters of the heart; you’ll know when you find it”. This quote by Mr. Steve Jobs summed up the experiences that the students get; when they do work during training that they passionately love and get a grasp of it in a short span, and think that they can make their career in that field but also to those who have; not decided what they want to do; training aid them in learning new things and understanding that where there are good and can make a career in it, by doing the work they get in their respective 14 weeks internship or, we can say corporate training before they joined as an employee as a full time.